In August, an expert who looked into the chemotherapy drug scare recommended that Health Canada should regulate all entities that mix drugs outside a licensed pharmacy. The Ontario government and Ontario College of Pharmacists acted on recommendations to license all pharmacies operating within the province's clinics or hospitals and to license and annually inspect pharmacies that prepare large volume non-sterile and sterile products.

CBC's the fifth estate launched an interactive tool that allows patients to rate the quality of care in their hospitals. After a nine-month quest to uncover data about Canadian hospitals' performance and make it public, Rate My Hospital offered unprecedented access to information about hospitals across the country.

4) Birth control pill recalls

Health Canada did not notify the media and the public of Apotex's recall of its Alysena 28 birth control pills until April 8, despite learning of the company's actions four days earlier, according to an independent review. In response, Health Minister Rona Ambrose said her department will work with industry to ensure they provide early notification of any drug recalls.

The issue behind the recall was one lot contained too little active drug and too much placebo, which increases the risk of an unplanned pregnancy. Another contraceptive, Freya-28, was also recalled across Canada after a pharmacy reported a placebo pill was misplaced in one package. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, the distributor of Freya-28, expanded the recall to include Esme-28 as a precaution after it was unable to rule out that the packaging error also affected that product.

Health Canada said it is reviewing feedback from a recent public consultation process and a report is expected to be be available early in 2014.

6) MS vein unblocking

A series of studies in 2013 debunked Italian Paolo Zamboni's belief that clearing blocked or narrowed neck veins could relieve symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

One study by Dr. Anthony Traboulsee, medical director of the UBC Hospital MS Clinic in Vancouver concluded the prevalence of narrowing was similar in those with MS, their siblings and unrelated controls. In another, professor emeritus Ian Rodger of McMaster University and his team found no evidence of abnormalities in head or neck veins of 99 adults with MS compared with 100 healthy controls.

Results from a clinical trial into unblocking veins, also conducted by Traboulsee, is expected in the fall of 2015.